ABSTRACT
Sukuma land tenure rules are generally favourable to the well-being of the people, because 'they do not stand in the way of bringing all agricultural land to its most beneficial use'. The Sukuma rules of land tenure thus conserve individual rights in land to the highest possible degree without injury to the interests of the community. All uncultivated land and all fields during the period between crops are subject to common rights of pasture. When land begins to be scarce, private ngitiri cannot be maintained, and collective ngitiri are created. Collective ngitiri, inaugurated either by the village authority itself or by the Veterinary Department, exist nearly everywhere. The grazing is free to any man, Sukuma or non-Sukuma, to an inhabitant of the village or to a man living in another village or chiefdom, irrespective of the number of his cattle or other stock.
